


reckless decisions and a lifetime of consequences

by JaMa38132



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Enemies to Lovers, Flashbacks, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaMa38132/pseuds/JaMa38132
Summary: against all logic, jeon wonwoo loves kim mingyu. sometimes, it's just a little hard to believe
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 7
Kudos: 216
Collections: YMMH FIC FEST





	reckless decisions and a lifetime of consequences

“Babe, you up?” it’s barely 4:30 in the morning when Mingyu whispers quietly into the fluffy, warm head of hair resting on his shoulder. He lost the feeling in his arm an hour ago, but he doesn’t mind. Not when the feeling had been forgone for the sake of the boy in his arms - the one cuddled up to his side, legs twisted together under the covers, arm thrown haphazardly across his torso, nose nuzzling against his collarbone. He wouldn’t move away from this if the world was ending.

The only reason he’s even speaking now his because he’s been awake for the better part of an hour, stuck on a question with an answer he already has. But there’s a tiny monster in his chest that’s been clawing at him, tricking his brain into thoughts of  _ you don’t deserve this  _ and  _ it’s not real.  _

So, he has to ask. He has to ask to quiet the monster, to help convince himself that this is real now, that Wonwoo is really here with him.

“Mmmm?” comes the quiet reply. Wonwoo is awake, but only barely, exhausted from the long night, but always so willing to concede to all of Mingyu’s idiosyncrasies, always listening.

Mingyu shifts a bit -- he really does need the feeling back in his arm -- and moves to cuddle Wonwoo closer to him, wrap his arm around the small of his back and turn them so they’re side-by-side, face-to-face, and so blissfully together. Mingyu can’t bring himself to ask in this moment - too wrapped up in the overwhelming and all consuming chaos of his mind and heart that is so happy and yet still so  _ scared _ .

***

Mingyu met Wonwoo at the office 3 years ago. Both new hires, recent college grads who had, like so many others, given up quickly on dreams of changing the world and living the lives they’d promised their childhood selves in favor of a barely liveable income and the start of student loan repayment plans and, if they’re lucky, a chance to make more than just lateral moves in their company later on.

Maybe that’s why Mingyu couldn’’t stand the sight of Wonwoo, who looked so calm all the time, so  _ not  _ stressed out, as if everything in the world was just how it was supposed to be and not  _ incredibly fucking hard _ . Maybe it was that just looking at Wonwoo made Mingyu’s heart pound and palms sweat. Mingyu didn’t have time for this. He had to get ahead here at Seventeen Industries. He had to  _ survive  _ and surviving meant that he couldn’t buddy up with the beautiful bespeckled boy that sat in the cubicle next to him.

Not that Mingyu’s plans mattered -- Wonwoo had made it very clear from the first day they started that he couldn’t give a  _ damn  _ about Mingyu’s existence, either. Clear that beneath his quietness and yes-sir candor was a fighting spirit stronger than Mingyu’s own. 

They’d bumped into each other as Mingyu was leaving the kitchen - in the worst, most literal way possible, dumping his bibimbap lunch fully down the front of Wonwoo’s shirt. He hadn’t even had time to recover from the surprise before Wonwoo was sighing, brushing off his shirt and giving Mingyu the dirtiest look he could.

“Already walking around like you own the place, Kim?” He’d spat, stalking off to the bathroom to clean up the best he could.

That’s when Mingyu heard a laugh and felt a hand clap his shoulder, “Don’t mind him, newbie -- he’s just ticked because some of the higher-ups already pawned off their presentations on him this morning. You might want to get back to work before they do the same to you.”

*** 

They’d been at the company together just a year when their relationship was at its worst. Mingyu saw it happen but was powerless to help. He watched senior employees pass their work off to Wonwoo, watched them embarrass and gaslight him into doing just a little bit more to help them out, watched them con him into thinking that if he just stayed a few more hours after everyone else went home that he’d be first in line for promotions.

He’d watched himself receive the same treatment for months before something changed. An older manager at the company had clearly developed some sort of gross suppressed crush on Mingyu, and the next thing he knew he was getting invited to dinners with their managers, watching work fall off his plate and onto others, watching as managers whispered about adding the handsome young newbie to their team. 

Watched Wonwoo’s hatred for him grow and grow as he stood by and did nothing.

***

Wonwoo cracks his eyes open, blearly. It’s early and he can’t see a thing without his glasses. But he knows, even in the back of his mind that Mingyu had called him. So he opens them anyway and shifts to nuzzle their noses together as he tries to wake up a little bit more. 

“What’s up, love?” He whispers, smoothing a hand across Mingyu’s cheek, “it’s almost dawn. Sleep a little.”

“Can’t.” Mingyu whispers back, voice breaking quietly as he leans into the touch. “Love you so much.”

“Love you, too.” Wonwoo whispers back, closing his eyes again for one last moment of rest before he can muster the energy to bring his attention back to his Mingyu.

***

The morning everything changed had been beautiful. A warm, spring morning, cherry blossoms in full bloom, and Mingyu was given a fairly impressive raise.

It didn’t take long for Mingyu’s world to fall apart after that. Their senior manager had dropped off a pile of paperwork on Wonwoo’s desk about a mile high. Mingyu’s jaw dropped at the sheer size of the stack of papers - maybe an inch and a half thick. He considered momentarily offering his help, but reconsidered. He’d known Wonwoo for nearly two years now and this occurrence wasn’t uncommon. At the start of every week their seniors would compile everything that needed filing and drop it off at their desks, and Wonwoo always got the largest stack. Mingyu, on the other hand, would get maybe 10 pages of work and a gross wink in his direction, but not much else.

He used to offer to help, but was met with ire and a biting, “Why? So you can take even more credit?” every time.

He doesn’t even look in Wonwoo’s direction anymore, instead letting the guilt eat him alive. He feels powerless to help and has never come up with a solution for it.

This morning is different though, instead of the usual long suffering sigh he hears from Wonwoo’s side of the cubicle (the trigger point to the guilt setting in) and Mingyu spends the rest of his day stealing glances to make sure Wonwoo can handle it (he always does), he hears a small squeak. He glances over to see tears falling down Wonwoo’s face and his heart breaks in half. 

Wonwoo is shaking, holding a stack of papers so tightly they’ve crumpled. Before he knows what he’s doing, Mingyu is up, taking the stack of papers and stomping over to the man that had handed them to Wonwoo.

“There seems to be a mistake. I believe these are yours.” He says, staring at the senior manager. He should definitely not be doing this.

“Excuse me?” Comes the incredulous response and an indifferent laugh. “I don’t think those are. I believe those belong to that goodie-two-shoes next to you.”

“Mingyu, give those back.” He hears behind him, and Wonwoo is standing there, eyes red and face set in a hard line -  _ pissed _ .

“Wonwoo, no, they can’t keep doing this to you it’s not fair --” Mingyu says, uncomprehending. This is wrong and Wonwoo is just letting it happen. Also, Wonwoo knows his name?

“You heard him, that’s his work. I suggest you return it and not cause further trouble.”

“This isn’t right!” Mingyu cries, voice entirely too loud. Others are starting to notice.

“Enough, Mingyu, unless you want to end up like  _ him  _ I suggest you let this go.” The manager is on his feet now. “Unless you’re prepared to deal with the consequences of other things as well.” Before he’s even done speaking Mingyu is engaged -- he’s not talking about Wonwoo anymore. He’s threatening to expose the clear HR violation that has been creeping up behind Mingyu’s back for far too long. It’s not Mingyu’s fault but it doesn’t matter. HR isn’t designed to protect the company, not the employees and if the office open secret makes its way to HR he’ll be out of a job instantly.

“I can handle it Mingyu -- drop it.” Wonwoo says, attempting to grab them back.

Mingyu is already too angry to stop, though, and he presses back, “I’m sick of watching you all gang up on him. He’s done nothing but work hard for years and he’s looked over every single time. He never gets any credit and it’s not only not fair it’s downright illegal.” He’s yelling now, voice way too loud.

“Say one more word --” But before the man has time to finish his sentence Mingyu has thrown the papers in his face.

“You can tell your boss to get control of himself or spend the rest of his life rotting behind bars. We quit.” 

“We what?” Wonwoo says, angrier than he’s ever heard him. “We absolutely do not quit -- you can’t just--”

“Let’s go.” Mingyu grabs Wonwoo’s wrist and beelines it out of the office and down the hall to the elevators. He doesn’t have any proof, can’t file a lawsuit he knows he’ll lose, but that threat is more than he’s ever done before for both of their sakes.

They make the agonizing journey down 15 floors when Wonwoo finally speaks, “I didn’t need you to do that.” He says, quiet, still angry, still crying. “Thank you, though.”

***

Their first date is horrible. Well, if you can really call it a date. They walked silently to a nearby coffee shop and sit across from each other for the better part of ten minutes before Wonwoo lets out one of his sighs.

“It took you two years, but you finally did the right thing. Not only for me, but for you. I mean it, thank you for that.”

To say Mingyu is relieved is an understatement. He knows Wonwoo isn’t some damsel in distress, he doesn’t need saving. He just… was so tired of it all. They were hired at the same time. They should be close friends, partners. They should have been put in a position to work together and build upward and they weren’t and  _ no one  _ should suffer the way they had to… but…

It’s not hard to notice his method to achieving safety was wrong. Not inside the company, and not in the way he left it. 

“I’m sorry I let them harass you for so long. You didn’t deserve it and I simply stood by and watched.” Mingyu says, eyes glued to his coffee mug, full of shame.

“I should say the same thing to you. We could have been competitive office buddies. Instead we let each other suffer. I’m sorry too, that I was so quick to judge you.” Wonwoo still has his head held high, strong as ever, but there’s clear regret there, too.

Two people lost their jobs today and now they have nothing but each others own misery to sit in. Which is what they do for the next 15 minutes before Wonwoo sighs again and says.

“Of all the way I thought you were finally going to ask me out… this was not it. But I have to say, I’m still a little impressed. You should try again some time.” 

***

Wonwoo finally sighs and starts to wake up, pushing himself up and fishing for his glasses. He stands, prompting Mingyu to follow him. He slips out of bed and into a bathrobe, holding Mingyu’s own out for him and tying it around his waist. He gently holds Mingyu’s face and swipes his hands across his cheeks.

That’s when Mingyu realizes he’s crying. Steady, quiet tears falling down his face. 

“Wonwoo,” he sighs and Wonwoo merely shushes him, taking his hand and leading them to the nook by their window. It doesn’t look out at much. Just the street below, quiet, nearly empty. The subway entrance sign glows bright yellow, and the Olive & Young neon green matches it, casting an oddly warm light across the street. The sky is starting to turn that grey-blue color that signals the sun will soon be rising. There’s a few cars and people out -- Seoul is never totally silent -- but it’s as peaceful as it gets in this part of town.

Mingyu wraps his arms around Wonwoo’s middle, tucking his face into his neck, breathing in and trying to get control of the chaos that’s moved from his mind to his entire body. He’s shaking. A mixture of adrenaline and endorphins have seeped into his system. He can feel himself starting to shake, anxiety wracking his body.

He has to ask.

***

Their second date is a little bit better. By a little, it’s actually means a lot. It’s a ton. In fact, it’s so amazing Mingyu kind of stops believing it’s real. Doesn’t know how he spent so long in pain when it’s this easy.

It doesn’t happen for a full 3 months. Mingyu had realised after Wonwoo had left the coffee shop that everything was really, truly, serious. He was without a job and so was the man he’d been crushing on and it had been his fault.

There probably wasn’t going to be a lawsuit over anything that happened that morning, too much trouble on the part of the company. Instead, they’d probably get a payout and an NDA. 

In the meantime, he had to find a new job and look for a new place to stay to save some money and he had to go through all of the things one goes through when they find themselves suddenly without their first real world job and on their own once again -- fewer safety nets available than ever before.

So it’s 3 months before Mingyu gets up the courage to call Wonwoo. He asks him if he’d like to get lunch and is shocked when Wonwoo’s response is simply, “Finally.” He’ll never get used to the knowledge that his office rival and long time crush likes him back --  _ still  _ likes him back, even after all of this time. 

The lunch part goes incredibly well. It turns out they have a lot in common. They graduated from the same university with different degrees, they both share a love for music that goes bone-deep. Mingyu learns that Wonwoo is kind of a nerd, beyond bookish but still has plenty of outgoing traits, likes the same video games Mingyu does and is incredibly skilled at them. He learns a little bit about Wonwoo’s family life and all in all finds that they click. It’s easy.

It’s so easy, in fact, that the lunch turns into a walk in the park turns into dinner-snacks at food stalls, turns into exploring galleries in the local art district.

They’re both complaining about their new low-entry reduced-salary god-the-economy-sucks jobs and of course, the skyrocketing price of rent, giggling over free gallery wine and munching on complimentary cookies that they  _ definitely don’t  _ feel artsy-enough to be engaging with but are anyway when Wonwoo finally asks. 

“We should make this easy. Do you want to just... move in together?”

***

Wonwoo finally has Mingyu sat in the nook of their windowsill, he’s sitting in front of him, legs crossed and waiting patiently. Mingyu has his face in his knees as he shakes.

“When you’re ready, love.” Wonwoo says, quiet as ever. The mood is fragile, sensitive. In early hours like this, it feels like a requirement to whisper.

Mingyu takes a visible breath and centers himself. He sits up, scoots a little closer to Wonwoo, takes his hands.

“I love you more than anything in the world.” He can’t look Wonwoo in the eyes, instead he’s staring at their hands, running his thumb up and down.

“I love you too.”

“I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever put you through.”

“I know. I’m sorry too.”

“Thank you for being the one for me.”

“Thank you for being the one for me, too.”

Mingyu finally smiles, timid, shaky. Of course Wonwoo responds the way he does -- steady, unrelenting, calm. Just like the day Mingyu met him. Just as ready to take on anything the world threw at him. He truly will never understand how he got so lucky.

“Will you stay with me forever? Will you marry me?”

Wonwoo smiles, leans over and kisses his forehead. He gets up and moves to the bedside drawer. Inside is a familiar little black box. When he returns to the nook he slides up to Mingyu, wraps an arm around him and leans his head on his shoulder. Mingyu is feeling a little better now, a little more relaxed. This happens less often now -- the all encompassing fear. Moments like this pass faster, he recovers more easily. He’s been with Wonwoo for 3 years since they moved in together and things are starting to settle down, just a little. Life is a little more predictable. 

He plucks one of the rings from the box and slides on Wonwoo’s outstretched finger. Wonwoo takes the other and places it on Mingyu’s. 

“We don’t have to wait, you know.” Wonwoo is still whispering, pressing the words into Mingyu’s cheek before planting another kiss on his temple. Mingyu feels every part of his soul ignite.

“We could skip the ceremony we’ve had planned for months and walk down to the courthouse as soon as the sun rises.” 

Of course Wonwoo would suggest that, this beautiful, smart, driven boy. Of course he’d offer to walk with Mingyu head first into anything, guns blazing and plans be damned three days before their wedding. Maybe, Mingyu thinks, maybe they should. After all, this boy is his. Against everything, he’s sitting next to Mingyu with a ring on his finger, tucked into his side and walking to uncharted waters with him once again.

  
“We should.” Mingyu says, turning to finally kiss Wonwoo properly, the way he deserves. “Waiting for the perfect moment was never really  _ us _ anyway.”


End file.
